Post #2748624 in Assassin's Pledge: Devastation, a roleplay on RPG

Linde watched Marcel brace himself for the maneuver. She smiled softly, but the smile slowly vanished as she took a breath in and out through her nose as quietly as if it was just a shrug. She set her feet, tensed her body, and took off. And sure enough, Marcel managed to get the maneuver on the first try, as expected.

When she paused at his hand, she smiled.

"Good, Marcel. Very good." She said, putting a hand on his wrist.

"Now imagine your arm is Shiver, newly remade with Orichalcum. Even Te'i Sai assassins will lose their head if they cross paths with this blade. And the best part is that because they run this drill over and over, they don't train themselves to react to changes because they don't believe there is anyone could react to them in time to stop them. When Shiver returns to you, this one maneuver may save not only your life, but everyone else's as well." She released his wrist and stood up straight, the demo of that maneuver now over.

She reset herself across from Marcel, facing him once again as she looked over at Quinn.

"Quinn, this one is for you." She said seriously.

"Marcel, if you please. The same stance." She asked.

When he had taken the stance, she set herself the same way.

"As much as I enjoy empowering women, lady Quinn, you're not as strong as Marcel and your umbrella blade isn't as strong as Shiver will be. That maneuver will break your arm, so for you an adjustment must be made to cope with the speed at which Te'i Sai moves."

She darted forward the same way, and Marcel repeated the motion with Linde pausing on contact once again. She grabbed Marcel gently and slowly shifted their position so they were a bit more perpendicular to the others so everyone, Quinn especially, could see, before she looked at Quinn once again.

"Your umbrella blade is your best bet here. However, if it comes into contact with their spine then you can kiss it goodbye. Their momentum alone will snap the blade like Master Vet crushed Shiver in his hand. So what you need to do Quinn is the following."

She looked at Marcel.

"Clench your fist like you're holding a sword, please... Good... Now... Switch hands."

She glanced at Quinn.

"Keep the blade in your rear hand and cross your body with it. Extend just far enough that your hand is at your forward shoulder. This way, the momentum will carry the blade harmlessly past your body and not risk injuring yourself more than necessary."

She looked back to Marcel.

"Now, the next part. To protect your wrist and shoulder from their momentum, brace your wrist with your forward hand, like so."

She adjusted Marcel's hand so that his left leg was forward, his right hand holding an imaginary blade just outside his left shoulder, and his left hand bracing and supporting his right wrist.

"Keep your left elbow tight to your side, but make sure it's not in a position to be pushed back and snap a rib. Let it sit in a position to slide back easily so your body has time to absorb the blow." She said.

She relaxed and looked at Quinn.

"This will, at the very least, open the side of their neck and spill their carotid artery and jugular both at once, and perhaps sever their wind pipe. Even with the serum, they're not coming back from that. But the moment this happens you need to distance yourself from them. Even severely damaged they will be able to attempt at least one last attack if they're close enough, as they train themselves not to panic in such situations. You'll need to distance yourself as quickly as possible.

She looked at Marcel and smiled.

"Thanks, Marcel. That concludes your and Quinn's lesson. And now for Marcus and Jeanne..." She said, glancing towards them with a smile.

"You two have a fun one, so watch closely." She said.

"Given that you lack the kind of combat prowess that these two have, you'll need to rely on a different strategy altogether." She said.

"Te'i Sai's fondness for this maneuver to gain your back is a strength and a weakness all wrapped up in one. Even without having the same level of body control or relative strength as Quinn and Marcel, the two of you can make use of what I like to call "The Butterfly".

She advanced on Marcel at a walking pace.

"This is the movement pattern Te'i Sai is using when they use that technique I just taught Marcel and Quinn."

"They are the most vulnerable... Here." She said, stopping the moment she was outside of Marcel's peripheral vision.

"Instead of going for a direct bladed assault as Quinn and Marcel do, what the two of you will do is turn as fast as you can to your right and extend your right fist in a wide swinging hammer fist strike to what you judge is your opponent's head level. It won't kill them, but it will make contact in at least one major zone of importance: either the jaw or temple. In either case, you will daze them just long enough to follow up with another strike to a more vulnerable area like the throat, here. She said, putting a fist at Marcel's jugular.

"Follow that with another strike to a nerve cluster like the philtrum, here, she said, putting her fist at the groove of Marcel's upper lip.

"... And you have a guaranteed knock out."

With that she stepped away from Marcel to look at Jeanne and Marcus.

"The serum makes them strong, but it doesn't protect them from natural human bodily weaknesses and functions. If you strike them in any vital point, it will have the same effect as it would on any other human. The trick is catching them before they can land their own attack. In the same way that I told Marcel to sense my movements rather than relying on his eyes, you must do the same. If you relax and let your instincts take control, your body will react when it knows something is about to happen."

She turned to Marcel and smiled.

"Thank you for demonstrating that with me Marcel." She said, giving him a hard clap on the back.

"Now, for the fun part... Miriam!" She called, looking towards her serum enhanced comrade.

"Now comes your training. I have told you once or twice what Te'i Sai does in combat, but now it's time to show you a bit more. Marcel..." She said, looking at him with a calm yet somehow terrifying smile.

"It's time to fulfill your duties as a training dummy, dear." She said happily, again with an almost terrifying undertone.

Snippet #2748624

located in Cre' Est, a part of Assassin's Pledge: Devastation, one of the many universes on RPG.

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